The End, The Beginning
After society crumbles on the scientific utopia of Prysmos, a new order arises and magic returns to the world. But who will claim its power? Synopsis It is a seemingly typical night for the robot waiter at the Iron Mountain Diner when a rather strange guest enters. Having somehow reached the restaurant at the summit of the mountain without the aid of a sky-ship, the white-haired old man is determined to look out of the restaurant's panoramic window at the city of New Valarak and rant about society's dependence on machines. Before a robot bouncer can remove the agitator, the event he was waiting to witness occurs. The three suns around which Prysmos orbits realign. The robots fall to the ground, suddenly inoperable. The Age of Science has ended. The second Age of Magic has begun. Unfortunately for the patrons of the Iron Mountain Diner, this means the anti-grav units keeping the restaurant atop the mountain have also died, plunging the building down the mountain to its explosive demise. They're saved, however, by the crazy man who uses magic to teleport them to safety, before announcing that "Merklynn shall return!" Chaos erupts over Prysmos, as all technology fails. In the city of New Valarak, Sky-ships fall to the ground, communications networks fail, power generators die. Society collapses with the technology, as the peaceful citizens descend into barbarism to survive. Weeks pass and a cut-throat medieval order rises. The remnants of junked technology are forged into suits of armour and martial weapons and the strong exploit the weak. Prime among these are Darkstorm who, with his underlings Reekon and Mortdred, set about capturing slaves in New Valarak. Their scheme is thwarted though by former mayor Leoric, with his allies Ectar and Feryl. Together, they try to fight off the slavers, but their battle is interrupted by a magical storm and the apparition it brings with it. All across Prysmos, Merklynn appears in the sky. He tells all who will listen that the new Age of Magic has begun and that untold magical might is hidden within Iron Mountain. He invites them all to meet there in a fortnight's time. Having retreated back to his own domain, Darkstorm considers this offer with his lieutenants, declaring that he must have this power. Similarly, the knights of New Valarak decide to quest for the magic, unaware that Cravex, the self-declared Curious, is listening in on them. Two weeks later, knights from across Prysmos assemble at Iron Mountain. The face of Merklynn appears in the rock and goads them into venturing forth to the mountain. One group of knights see an opening in the side of the mountain and assume it is the secret chamber holding the magic. Despite the doubts of their comrade Galadria, who remains outside, they rush in, only for the cave to turn into a giant mouth which spits them back down the mountain. Merklynn appears and suggest they try again, but they refuse the mysterious magician and leave. Elsewhere, another group of knights have entered a different cave, only to find it leads to a tunnel filled with blades. Above the protestations of the group, Witterquick races through the tunnel, successfully dodging the dangers. He calls to his fellows, but they turn back. Darkstorm and his allies have reached a rope bridge across a canyon, meanwhile. After reaching the far side, Darkstorm instructs Reekon and Mortdred to cut it down, sending a handful of other knights currently crossing down to their apparent demise. On the near side of the bridge is Arzon, who decides to try a nearby rope ladder instead. Unfortunately, once he's halfway up, the ladder turns into a tangle of snakes, throwing Arzon down to a ledge. Rather than be trapped, he uses the large leaves from a plant growing there to fashion a parasail, with which he glides across the cavern. Further along the trail, Leoric, Ectar and Feryl are making good progress. Their voices have trailed back to Darkstorm and co though, who decide to get ahead of them. Mortdred is sent out to act as bait, faking a cry for help and drawing the New Valarak knights back so that Reekon and Darkstorm can sneak past. Discovering Mortdred, the knights go to attack, but he escapes after Darkstorm. Following in chase, Leoric and friend stumble upon a sleeping gargoyle. Their attempt to sneak past it is thwarted by Mortdred waking it with a stone to the head though, and then Reekon using a convenient lever to trap the knights in the room with it. As Ectar and Feryl contemplate their imminent doom, Leoric instead rushes the creature, causing it to scamper off in fear. Meanwhile, Darkstorm has lost track of his lackies and ended up in a dark passage. He lights a match to find his way, but it is blown out by a skeleton, which then knocks him down a nearby pit. Darkstorm is able to arrest his fall and climbs back to safety. Elsewhere, Galadria is making good progress, crossing a narrow beam across an indoor lake, when she is attacked from behind by Virulina. Fortunately, Galadria had (apparently) smelt Virulina's approach and ducks her attack. The pair knock each other into the water, where they're accosted by a tentacled creature. It quickly manages to grab hold of Galadria, while Virulina escapes through a tunnel. Desperately trying to escape, Galadria grabs hold of a handle on the lake floor, only for it to move and open a series of drains in the lake. As the creature struggles in the receding water, Galadria reaches dry land and swears revenge on Virulina. Another group of knights are having a tough time finding the secret chamber. Their idle talk of forming some kind of league of knights is interrupted when Cravex cuts down a pair of giant bee hives from above them, driving them from the mountain. He drops down and collects their forgotten weapons. In yet another area of the mountain, an ice filled cavern plays host to a battle between Cryotek and Cindarr. The former is angry that the latter has been following him through the maze and tries to drive him off. Despite Cindarr's best efforts, Cryotek's attacks are not deterred, causing Cindarr to retreat. Darkstorm is finally reaching the top of his pit and muses on the need for reliable help. He notices Cindarr, Lexor and Cravex journeying together and muses that they're just the kind of people to share his worldview. Spying a vat of spider's milk, Darkstorm tips it onto the trio, trapping them in the sticky goo. He offers to free them all in exchange for fealty. Lexor quickly agrees, Cravex assents with a warning that Darkstorm better rule him well, while Cindarr is swayed simply by the promise of fine food. The Valarak knights are feeling lost, but Feryl has caught the scent of fresh air and so the group follows his nose. They arrive in a great chamber lined with giant statues of strange creatures, ending with a majestic door. Ectar's attention is caught by movement behind the statues though, and warns his comrades of an attempted ambush by Darkstorm and his "Darkling Lords". Though forewarned, the knights are still outnumbered six to three, but the odds are evened when Cryotek, Witterquick, Galadria and Arzon enter to help. As the battle turns, Lexor hides out of sight and frets about this side's impending defeat. Before Lexor's fears can come to pass however, the battle is interrupted by Merklynn, whose face appears on the mysterious door. He congratulates the whole group for reaching this stage and promises them great powers on the other side of the door. But with great power comes great responsibility consequences and he warns that all their lives will be forever changed if they continue forward. Working together, the group open the great door and enter a seemingly infinite room, in which whirls a maelstrom of magical energy, containing within it the faces of many creatures and mysterious entities. Emboldened by Leoric's example, the group pass through the storm of spirits arriving in Merklynn's sanctum. The spirits are drawn into his globe and he explains that the spirits are mystical reflections of the groups' darkest, most secret fears. Merklynn goes on to explain that he is a survivor of the first Age of Magic, having survived the Age of Science - brought on by a previous realignment of Prysmos's suns - by secreting his power within Iron Mountain. He then names the knights Visionaries and bestows upon them their new animal totems, reflecting their actions in the quest. For Arzon and his flight, the Eagle. For Cindarr and his climbing, the Gorilla. For Witterquick and his speed, the Cheetah. For Cravex's scavenger instinct, the Phylot. For Ectar's cunning, the Fox. For Mortdred's bootlicking, the Beetle. For Feryl's tracking skills, the Wolf. For Virulina's underwater killer instinct, the Shark. For Galadria's underwater intelligence, the Dolphin. For Lexor's cowardice, the Armadillo. For Cryotek's strength, the Bear. For Reekon's stealth, the Lizard. For Leoric's courage, the Lion. And for Darkstorm's climbing skills and sliminess, the Mollusk. Those with staffs are given extra powers: Wisdom for Leoric, Light Speed for Witterquick, Knowledge for Arzon, Strength for Cryotek, Decay for Darkstorm, Destruction for Cindarr, Fear for Cravex, and Invulnerability for Lexor. Reekon and Virulina complain that those without staffs are "getting rooked", but Merklynn assures them they will discover their own great powers in time. With that, Merklynn transports the group to the base of the mountain again and leaves them with a warning that their new powers give them the ability to either rebuild their world or destroy it. Characters In order of appearance Quotes "For ages I've watched man build metal servants to do his bidding! I've watched as he became more and more dependent on his machines! It's sickened me! Tonight it all changes! No more machines to feed you! To take you home! To tuck you into your beds! Man has grown soft and weak! No, he'll have to be strong to survive!" :— Merklynn ranting at people trying to eat their dinner in peace. "'Tis most fortunate that I stopped by here on my way to the Iron Mountain. The political climate of this region is now quite clear! After all, am I not known in some quarters as Cravex the Curious?" :—'Cravex' musing to himself after eavesdropping on Leoric. "The old man tries to frighten us with riddles! If there is magic to be found in this mountain, let's get it! '''For the future of Prysmos, for honor and glory'' -- let the quest begin!'" :—'Leoric' offers up his own win-one-for-the-Gipper speech. "I'm more interested in our future -- once we acquire these new powers! I envision the creation of a league of knights dedicated to the cause of justice! It would combine my expertise with weapons, your detective skills and we could hold monthly meetings, and--" :— The Hawk-helmed Knight makes some familiar suggestions before getting attacked by bees. Notes Trivia *This first issue is "giant-sized", consisting of 38 story pages. The story still feels somewhat rushed and makes you appreciate how well Dille did to get it all into a regular length animated episode. *The issue's title is split across several pages as "The End--" and "--The Beginning". We've massaged the punctuation for clarity. *This episode is based on the script to The Age Of Magic Begins and gives a credit to Flint Dille on the first page. There are many differences and divergences from the animated version though, some likely due to creative choices, some possibly relics from earlier versions of the script or parts simply cut for time from the produced episode. *Notable differences include: **An expanded opening, which provides a more visceral view of the end of the Age of Science. **Arzon's feat changes from making ersatz wings out of leaves to using a single oversized leaf as a makeshift paraglider, somewhat undermining the idea that he "flew". **Cravex, rather than Mortdred, spies on Leoric in New Valarak as the latter accepts Merklynn's challenge. He takes it a step further by actually infiltrating the castle. **Galadria's draining of the lake to escape the aquatic creature is accidental, rather than by design, which also undermines her "underwater intelligence", as it's more "underwater luck". **Virulina doesn't trap Galadria in the lake, but she does shove her into the creature, preserving her "killer instinct". **Darkstorm proactively traps the future Darkling Lords (minus Virulina) to manufacture a situation from which to save them, rather than stumbling upon them. The stickiness of the spider's milk adds to the idea of his sliminess. **However, Darkstorm's ascent from the oubliette is a more traditional hand-over-hand climb rather than the shuffling brace from the animated series, which is rather less snail-esque. **The golem Leoric rushes in The Age of Magic Begins is here a gargoyle. **Merklynn gives greater detail on his backstory, confirming that this is the second Age of Magic and that he lived through the first as well as the Age of Science. **Lexor's helmet includes a fancy plume. **Neither he nor the other Visionaries ever remove their headwear while in Merklynn's shrine. How inconsiderate. *Leoric (possibly) makes a cameo appearance at the Iron Mountain Diner. As the robot waiter tells Merklynn that the table is reserved for Mayor Leoric of New Valarak, a man who roughly resembles Leoric is present. But he could well just be another man with a rocking moustache. *The Hawk-helmed Knight is an odd swipe at Hawkman from DC Comics' Justice League, who is also proficient with medieval weapons. His friend with detective skills has a vaguely bat-shaped helm too... *Leoric, Ectar and Feryl wield weapons vastly different to those in the animated series or that come with their action figures. It's possible these designs are based on toy prototypes but Leoric is still depicted with his whip, so that seems unlikely compared to just a stylistic choice. * Artist Mark Bagley draws the Power Staffs to odd dimensions, with notably smaller heads than normal. Again, this might be a stylistic choice, but it does reflect the smaller size of the staff holograms seen in prototypes, where they were interchangeable with the chest holograms. Still, it doesn't explain why some of the power staff heads appear much smaller than the others. Errors *Virulina is absent from the battle outside the secret chamber (as specifically noted by Galadria) but suddenly appears with the rest of the group to receive her totem. *Lexor doesn't really do anything to warrant "turning cowardice into a defensive art". He just hides behind a statue. *The fight between Cindarr and Cryotek is oddly framed. If you didn't know the characters, you wouldn't automatically assume that Cryotek is supposed to be the hero, as he simply attacks another knight for daring to follow him through the mountain with no real provocation. *Mortdred's name is misspelt throughout as "Mortdredd", likely brought over from the prevalent misspelling of his name in the script this issue was based on. *Witterquick's name is split into two words in this issue ("Witter Quick"), as was also the case in some of the animated series scripts. *A thought bubble of Galadria's inner dialogue "as ever, my senses tell me to trust Leoric" is sourced to Lexor, who is rather unlikely to have that thought. It should simply be joined to Galadria's previous thought bubble. Continuity notes *First appearance of, well, everything. Reprintings *''Visionaries'' (Marvel UK) #1 - first half of story. *''Visionaries'' (Marvel UK) #2 - second half of story. *''Visionaries'' Annual 1989 (Marvel UK) as "The End". *''Transformers'' (Marvel UK) #213-219 - serialised as back-up feature. References Category:Star Comics Category:Media Category:Fiction